1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of interactive television. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for authoring interactive television content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques for delivering interactive television (ITV) content to end users are well known in the art. For example, Metadata such as title, actor, and/or duration can be associated with movies, and users of Video on Demand (VOD) systems can select a movie for viewing at a television local to the user.
Various schemes have also been disclosed in the related art for allowing a user to select secondary content when viewing primary media content. For example, a movie chase scene may present to a user an icon for a particular brand of automobile depicted in the movie chase scene. If a user makes a selection during the display of the icon, the user is presented with secondary content in the form of advertisement for the selected brand of automobile, for instance, and the primary media content is paused. The secondary content may be in the form of a Web Page, where, for example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) has been associated with the icon.
Related art systems and methods for delivering ITV content have many disadvantages, however. For example, many delivery schemes begin with the assumption that secondary content has already been associated with the primary media content. In reality, there is a dearth of secondary content associated with most primary media content. In addition, the identification of secondary content, and association of the secondary content with the primary media content, are typically manual processes performed at, for example, a manual editing station. Such manual processes are time consuming and expensive. One consequence is that both primary and secondary content may not be relevant to current events. Moreover, for many content providers, manual editing is cost-prohibitive unless there is a reasonable expectation for mass market consumer appeal.
An inherent disadvantage of manual editing is that a human editor must make decisions about what portions of the primary media source might be appropriate for association with secondary content. The editor must also make decisions about the secondary content itself. Thus, the entertainment value and utility of resulting ITV products and services are highly dependent upon the skill and bias of the human editor that is authoring the ITV content.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for authoring ITV content without the long cycle time, high cost, and significant degree of variability associated with manual ITV content generation systems and methods.